Blue Skies and High Tides: Highlights from the 2026 BCFA AGM

What a fantastic weekend! The British Columbia Floatplane Association (BCFA) splashed down at the beautiful Courtenay Airpark on July 11th for our 28th Annual General Meeting. With the tides cooperating perfectly for straight-float arrivals, the Airpark was treated to a spectacular turnout of 15-20 transient airplanes both on the river and the 1800ft paved runway.

A huge thank you to Ray Henault and the Courtenay Airpark Association for hosting us at their wonderful, volunteer-run park.  It was the perfect venue for a day celebrating our shared freedom to fly.

While we did take care of some essential club business—including re-electing familiar faces to the board and welcoming our newest Director-at-Large, Lise Ash—the real highlights of the day came from our fantastic afternoon presentation program .

High-Tech Rescue & Inspiring Speakers

We were incredibly fortunate to host an absolute powerhouse lineup of guest presenters this year:

• 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron & CASARA: Captain Germain, Captain Mokievsky-Zubok, and Fred Carey gave a riveting presentation on the future of Search and Rescue . They gave us an inside look at ARTEMIS cellular detection technology, a game-changing system that essentially turns a search aircraft into an airborne cell tower to locate missing phones—even with zero cell coverage!  Their top advice for pilots?  Keep your phones charged from aircraft power, and if you ever find yourself in an emergency, leave your phone on so searchers can find your signal.

• BC Parks: Jack Morel spoke about our ongoing stewardship partnership.  It was a great reminder of how our community’s responsible access and volunteer efforts keep BC’s remote lakes open and beautiful for everyone .

• Harbour Air: VP of Aircraft Maintenance, Shawn Braiden, stepped up to the mic to share his expert advice on maintaining your floatplane in BC.

• COPA National: Sigmund Sort, COPA's BC Director, gave us a great update on the national effort to defend general aviation infrastructure and our freedom to fly .

Celebrating the Next Generation

We also had the privilege of presenting the 2026 Freedom to Fly Floats Scholarship to an incredibly deserving recipient, Roy Ledwosinski! Roy was on hand to accept his trophy and thank the mentors and community helping him along his aviation journey . We can't wait to see him out on the water!

Burgers, Planes, and Good Company

We wrapped up the day the only way a proper aviation gathering should: with a classic hangar BBQ . Members spent the evening networking, swapping flying stories, and admiring the rows of aircraft on the apron and the river.

A massive thank you to the Courtenay Airpark Association and all the volunteers, sponsors, and pilots who flew in to make this AGM one for the logbooks.